Velux 5 Oceans skippers webchats

Velux 5 Oceans fans will get another chance to ask their favourite skippers questions in the latest round of webchats – this time on camera.

After the success of the last series of webchats in Punta del Este before the start of ocean sprint four, the webchats will now go one step better with the skippers answering questions live on webcam.

Each of the four Velux 5 Oceans skippers will chat with fans for 30 minutes in the lead up to the final sprint of The Ultimate Solo Challenge across the North Atlantic from Charleston in the USA to La Rochelle, France.

Velux 5 Oceans communications director Tim Kelly said: 'The Velux 5 Oceans is all about bringing our fans closer than ever before to the race and its skippers. The live webchats we held in Punta del Este were an overriding success and for the next round we are upping the ante once more with the skippers answering questions via webcam. Never before have race fans had such access to the brave skippers taking on The Ultimate Solo Challenge.'

The webchats will take place on Tuesday May 10 and Wednesday May 11, and will be hosted on the Eco 60 class website.

Here’s a timetable for the webchats:

Brad Van Liew: Tuesday May 10, 1300 EST (1700 UTC)

Derek Hatfield: Tuesday May 10, 1330 EST (1730 UTC)

Chris Stanmore-Major: Wednesday May 11, 1300 EST (1700 UTC)

Zbigniew ‘Gutek’ Gutkowski: Wednesday May 11, 1330 EST (1730 UTC)

Webchats for Brad Van Liew, Derek Hatfield and Chris Stanmore-Major will be in English. Gutek’s webchat will take place in Polish for the first 20 minutes then in English for the last ten minutes.

Anyone wanting to take part in the webchats should go to the Eco 60 class website at the times specified above. You will then be able to connect direct to the webchat. Ocean sprint five starts from Charleston at 3pm EST (1900 UTC) on Sunday March 27.